Category
Tattvas
25 entries. Click any to see everything it connects to.
The five tattvas used in Western occult practice, prithvi (earth), apas (water), tejas (fire), vayu (air) and akasha (spirit), are each given a coloured geometric symbol used for scrying and meditation. The term tattva is far broader in its Indian sources, where Samkhya counts twenty-four or twenty-five principles; the five-element set with coloured tattva cards entered Western magic through the Theosophical Society and the Golden Dawn.
Facts
Overview
- Entries in the Atlas
- 25
- What Defines This Grouping
- The five-element tattva set as it functions in WESTERN occult practice - prithivi, apas, tejas, vayu and akasa - each with a coloured geometric symbol used for scrying and meditation. 1
- Size of the Traditional Set
- 5 tattvas in the Western occult set 1
Contested Use
- Contested or Appropriated Modern Use
- The five-element set is a Western occult narrowing of a Sanskrit philosophical term, taken up through Theosophical channels. It is not how tattva is used in the Indian systems it borrows from. 2
Origins
- Origin Period
- Adopted into Western occultism in the late nineteenth century. 2
- Origin of the Name
- Sanskrit tattva, "thatness", a principle or category of existence. Samkhya counts twenty-five tattvas; the five-element set used in Western magic is a narrowing of the term. 3
Learn More
The Five Elements in Western Occult Use
The five tattvas used in Western occult practice, prithvi (earth), apas (water), tejas (fire), vayu (air) and akasha (spirit or ether), are each given a coloured geometric symbol: a yellow square, a silver crescent, a red triangle, a blue circle and a black or indigo egg. These symbols are used for scrying and meditation, the practitioner gazing at or visualising a tattva to enter the corresponding state or realm.
The five-fold scheme and the coloured symbols entered Western magic through the Theosophical Society and the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn in the late nineteenth century, drawing on Indian sources.
A Broader Term Narrowed
The Sanskrit word tattva means "thatness" or principle and is far broader in its Indian philosophical use, Samkhya counts twenty-five tattvas, Shaiva systems thirty-six, than the five-element scheme the Western occult tradition adopted. The atlas notes this, treating the five tattvas here as they function in Western practice while acknowledging the wider Indian meaning.
The entries give each tattva its element, symbol, colour and use in scrying. The classical elements they correspond to are treated in the element category, and the practice connects to the ceremonial-magic section.
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